SUBMITTED: Sunday, January 25, 2009
POSTED: Sunday, January 25, 2009
My girlfriend went through almost exactly what you described, although it happened with a company in Nebraska called S-5 Promotions. We recently found out she was pregnant, and she wanted to make some extra money to buy some things before the baby gets here. They hired her as a "demonstrator" for about 15 hours a week and told here that she would get paid $400 a week regardless of whether any vacuums were sold or not. I hadn't heard of this particular scam, and I thought it sounded like a lot of pay for not much work. I figured there was a catch, but didn't think that they would completely avoid paying her.
So, I agreed that she should try it. She went through three days of unpaid training which fit in with the hours she described, but they were elusive when she asked about whether training was paid or not. Then her first week started. She ended up having to canvass for them, which involved long (12+ hour) days, out in the cold. I was getting a little irritated that they did this to my pregnant girlfriend, but when she asked about it, they told her that it was just for a week, and that next week she would be doing demos only. They also repeatedly told her that Saturday was payday. So Friday night rolls around and me being home alone and bored I got on the internet and then found ripoffreport.com and got wise to the situation she was in. She called on Saturday morning after working about 70 hours that week and they told her that she wouldn't be paid because she didn't get enough demos that week, even though she was told that it didn't matter because she wasn't technically supposed to be canvassing.
I, being more confrontational than her, was willing to go to their office and make a scene about things, but she didn't want me to go down that road. It is probably a good thing because I would have lost my temper with them. So that is basically where my story ends. I was strongly considering filing a lien on one of their vehicles for the $400, but the way the lien law in Nebraska is worded it would have been shady at best and I don't want to mess up my business by doing something like that.
If you and your son were willing to try to do something, you should start by going to the office and demanding that they provide copies of all signed documents and have them put into writing specifically why he was not paid. If they don't provide this, don't be afraid to contact the police on-the-spot to have them mediate for you. Chances are that they will cut your son a check to avoid the trouble you are causing for them.
It also might not hurt to look into the lien law in Ohio, and possibly small claims court. Just because he signed the document, doesn't give them impunity to do whatever they want.
There are probably documents that would support a legal case against them because they are knowingly misclassifying people as Independent Contractors.
The way these companies work almost certainly establishes an employee/employer relationship. I would love to pursue this with the company that did this to us here in Nebraska, but I can't really do anything about this without her consent. I can imagine that these people have screwed a lot of people and I am just thankful that we don't rely on her having an income.
If you do decide to go after them, please let me know how it turns out.